Airbus announces future installations in Biobío Region

The Regional Governor Rodrigo Diaz and representatives from the Company Airbus Defence and Space have met an important meeting for the future of aerospace development in Biobío Region. French visitors submitted to government authority a project which in the midterm may allow in Biobío various actions such as the installation of a geo-reference satellite center unique in Chile.

The meeting was coordinated by the directors of the Center for Optics and Photonics, CEFOP, at the University of Concepción, Dr. Rolando Hernandez and Dr. Carlos Saavedra, who were also participated in the meeting, due to its experience in technological developments and scientific research with the French firm, provider of the earth observation satellite for Chile FASat-Charlie, among other developments.

The aim of the meeting was to inform the agreement between CEFOP and Airbus to the highest authority of the Region. In this agreement, the aerospace company commits to take actions that promote the development of our region and the country in field of science and technology.

In this regard, Dr. Hernandez explained what the main milestones of this international convention will be. “We have done a cooperation agreement with Airbus Defence and Space and they are providing contributions in order to have facilities together CEFOP. Now, we have raised the Governor the need to create a center of geo-information in the region, project that was already socialized with the Minister of Defense”.

“This will be a regional center that will engage our university through CEFOP, and we want to get the support of the Regional Government to advance in having a capture station satellite data in Concepción, in order to generate products derived from satellite imagery for the region”, said the researcher. In practice, this would allow know-how where floods happen, how much snow there is in the mountains, how is the road construction, monitor the civil construction of the region, agriculture, and so on.

For his part, Governor Diaz valued the further progress for the region as result of the presence of Airbus. “The project presented by Airbus is a tremendous opportunity, because they are willing to settle in the Biobío Region, and develop a Center that will enable to leverage the knowledge of space on various topics of everyday life. We have expressed our thanks and we are absolutely available to explore all avenues of cooperation”, emphasized the authority.

“We also have agreed to work hard with CEFOP, putting our intelligence at the service of this initiative and offer in the medium term, all tools that allow us to this prestigious company reaches the region. There’s a working relationship in a long-standing between CEFOP and Airbus and this is one of the main pillars”, said the head of the Regional Government.

Finally, the Vice President of Sales and Marketing from Airbus, Cristophe Roux, said about the company’s preference to choose the Biobío Region as a base for their operations in Chile. “The relationship with CEFOP started years ago, with the development of satellite FASAT-Charlie. At this time, with the University of Concepción and Dr. Rolando Hernández, the idea is to establish knowledge transfer, investing in this society. In the medium term, we could have a center with reception and data processing, and applications development with specific services for people”, said the CEO, who attended the meeting with his Development and Sales Director for Latin America, Josian Fabrega.